Halloween on a Dime

by Tawra Kellam

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The average American family spends over $100 per year on Halloween goodies. As your kids drag you through aisles full of ghosts and goblins, the scariest thing about Halloween is threatening to leave bite marks in your pocketbook. No wonder so many moms flee screaming from the store. It can be much less expensive and a lot more fun to devise your own chilling creations. Here are a few tips that you can use to stave off the greenback gremlins and exercise your creative muscle. It won't hurt a bit! These and other free frugal tips are available at NotJustBeans.com.

Face Paint

1 tsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. water
1/2 tsp. cold cream
food coloring

Mix all ingredients together in an old muffin pan and you are ready to paint. This amount makes one color.

Fake Wound

1 Tbsp. Vaseline
tissue
cocoa powder
2-3 drops red food coloring

Place Vaseline in a bowl. Add food coloring. Blend with a toothpick. Stir in a pinch of cocoa to make a darker blood color. Separate tissue. Using 1 layer, tear a 2x3 inch piece and place at wound site. Cover with petroleum jelly and mold into the shape of a wound. The center should be lower than the sides. Fill the center with the red petroleum jelly mixture. Sprinkle center with some cocoa. Sprinkle a little around the edges of the wound to make darker.

Spider Webs - Use the tape from old cassettes or black yarn to make spider webs. Use cotton balls stretched out for small spider webs.

Glass Jack-o-Lantern - Outline a pumpkin face on a spaghetti or pickle jar with black paint. The paint around the outside of it with orange paint. Place a candle inside for a jack-o-lantern.

Halloween Guess It Game - In this game, you challenge the participants to reach into mystery boxes filled with creepy things and try to guess what each item is. The person with the most correct answers wins the game. An example is if you want them to guess "grapes," you might try to confuse them by saying, "I think it's eyeballs..."

Cut a hole in the top of a shoe box or laundry box for each item to be used. Cover the box with black spray paint. Decorate each box with pumpkins or spiders for a more festive flavor.

Place the following items inside, one per box. Be sure to place enough of each item so the guests can adequately "feel" the guts. For eyeballs, use grapes or peeled cherry tomatoes. For intestines, try cooked spaghetti. When you oil a piece of plastic bag, it feels just like skin. For brains, use scrambled eggs. Simulate hair with an old clown wig. For bones, use thoroughly washed chicken bones placed in some sand. Chunky salsa could be used for vomit. For fingers, use hot dogs cut into finger-sized pieces. Finally, corn nuts, pine nuts or popcorn can be use for teeth.

Have a Pumpkin Hunt - Hide mini pumpkins like you would Easter Eggs. Let the kids find and decorate them. For small children, use glue sticks with construction paper cut-outs for decorations.

Edible Slime - Pour lime gelatin into a glass bowl. After it is partially set, add gummy worms. Chill until lightly set. Then serve slopped all over the plate.

For the final frightening treat, freeze gummy worms in ice cubes and add them to drinks. Cut gummy worms in half if needed.

Tawra Kellam is the author of Halloween On a Dime: Frighteningly Frugal Fun. To order Halloween On a Dime, send $5.95 (shipping included) to Not Just Beans, P.O. Box 4252, Wichita, KS 67204. To order online or for more free tips and recipes visit our web site at NotJustBeans.com

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